The market is down 15.  SFE Futures were up 3 this morning.

Dow Jones down 10. Dow up 25 at best and down 51 at worst in very low volume of 575m. Coal stocks up. Airlines down. Weekly jobless numbers lower than expected at 361,000 against forecasts of 375,000. The trade deficit fell for the third straight month to $42.9bn in June from $48m the month before. Forecasts were for $47.5bn. US results season coming to an end. News Corp ended down 0.9% after their results the night before. US wholesale inventories booked a surprise fall in June and wholesale sales fell away over the month — a trend that hints at reduced near-term economic growth.

The softish July Chinese industrial production data yesterday bolstered the case for further stimulus initiatives by the People’s Bank of China. Economists in a European Central Bank survey reduced their 2013 GDP growth forecast to 0.6%, from 1.0% previously. They now expect the euro-zone economy to contract by 0.3% in 2012.
Bonds flat on the day. 10 year yield at 1.67% and the 30 year at 2.75% after a rather weak $16bn bond auction. The Spanish Bankia SA had another intraday surge. The share price has more than doubled since the late July pledge by European Central Bank President Draghi to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.

European markets mixed — UK FTSE up 0.10%, Germany down 0.02%, France up 0.54%, Spain down 0.56%, Greece up 0.13% and Italy down 0.08%. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rallied 0.4% led by Consumer Goods (+0.9%), Technology (+0.9%) and Basic Materials (+0.4%) sectors. Volumes on the Stoxx 600 was 23% under the average for the last 30 days. Spanish 10 year bond yield down 2bp to 6.846%. Italian 10 year bond yield down 4bp to 5.859%.

Metals mostly down with Copper down 0.27%, Nickel down 1.57%, Aluminium down 0.55% and Zinc down 0.61%. Oil up 13c to $93.48. According to OPEC data, Iraqi crude output rose above 3M barrels a day in July, the first time this number had been achieved over a month since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq actually outpaced Iran for a second successive month.

  • The RBA in its monthly statement on monetary policy has lifted their inflation forecast by 25bp to 2.5% for the year to end December 2012.
  • Crown (CWN) have posted a FY net profit of $513.32m up 52.8%. They will pay a final dividend of 19c per share taking the annual to 38c. “During the year we saw reasonable revenue growth at both properties, although in some areas this was offset by higher operating costs,” said CEO Rowen Craigie. CWN is 1.52% to 866c.
  • Goodman Group (GMG) have posted a FY net profit of $408.3m  up 4.2% on the previous year. Total revenues and other income were up 1.6% and they will pay a final dividend of 9c per share which take the total to 18c. GMG have said that they are well positioned to record stronger operating profit in 2013. GMG is up 0.92% to 383c.
  • Tabcorp down 9% on the back of a series of broker downgrades to earnings and target prices after results yesterday. It is losing its attractions as an income stock with an 80% payout on falling earnings. TAH is down 8.9% to 921c.

For a five day FREE TRIAL of the MARCUS TODAY newsletter Click Here. You will receive our renowned and popular Daily email about the stockmarket with all the stuff you need to know ahead of the trading day including:

  • Overnight developments, news, comments, rumours, broker recommendations and ideas from Marcus and his Team.
  • Our Portfolio recommendations which is actively managed on behalf of subscribers … no “set & forget”. Everything you need to effortlessly
  • managed your own long term investment portfolio.
  • Daily Technical Trading ideas and data, including daily scans of the ASX 300 for stocks changing trend.
  • Stock Database  —  all the numbers with comments on the top 300 stocks and more.
  • Educational section  —  Marcus’s Educational and Entertaining articles.

Subscribe to MARCUS TODAY. We are sure you will enjoy and profit from what we offer … we have one of the highest re subscription rates in the financial newsletter industry.